


The Other Woman

by WritLarge



Series: The Top Keeps Spinning [5]
Category: Inception (2010)
Genre: Alternate Ending, Community: inceptiversary, F/M, Inception Bingo, POV Ariadne, Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-07
Updated: 2017-08-07
Packaged: 2018-12-12 04:38:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,018
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11729643
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WritLarge/pseuds/WritLarge
Summary: Dom wakes up in love with the wrong woman.(4th alternate continuation of "If, If, Fucking If")





	1. The Story

**Author's Note:**

> Another Dom is dreaming possible outcome. Can be read as a continuation of “If, If, Fucking If” Technically, it could be set after any time Dom has died, though definitely post-movie.

Ariadne broke down into tears. 

Was this dream ever going to end? Dom would build something new if it did, but at least it would be better than this. This time he’d started over from arriving in Paris, taking another fork entirely by falling in love with a version of Miles’ daughter Mal as he got into dreamshare. He’d erased Ariadne entirely.

A cup of tea was pressed it into her hands by the woman in question. It wasn’t Mal’s fault that Dom had built his dreamworld around her this time. She and Miles had been incredibly supportive. Ariadne was pretty sure she’s have fallen apart without them.

Dom had gotten lost when he’d been dreaming and constructing at the same time, shifting the dream around him, losing himself in raw creation. When Ariadne had tried to join in, she’d discovered a projection of herself already there beside him. Dom had looked at her in horror and the dream had collapsed.

He hadn’t woken up.

Then he’d dreamed that they were starting their own firm, with no mention of their involvement in dreamsharing at all, something they’d begun in grad school. She’d spent the whole time entering the dream and trying to convince him to wake up from a state he thought was impossible. The dream had collapsed again.

After that he’d dreamed that she’d died in a car accident, just before finishing her Masters. That one had gone dark very quickly. 

The cycle continued and each time the beginning had gone back further in further in Dom’s history. Eventually the current dream would collapse and Dom’s dream reality would reboot.

This last one had been the longest, most convoluted, meta version of dreamshare he’d built yet. It may have been in response to their bringing in other people. None of them were keen on the military applications of their work, but the expertise of the British SIS dreamshare division couldn’t be denied and Miles had arranged for their move to London to collaborate. They’d been keenly interested in Dom’s theories. Ariadne wondered how much of it might be true, given how exposed Dom was to the depths of dreaming technology, but there was no way to be sure. 

Except for Mal, they’d all entered the most recent dream, trying to herd Dom in the right direction. Arthur had done the most heavy lifting inside the dream though it had been Eames and Yusuf doing the lion’s share of the planning while he stayed under with Dom and fed information back to them. She’d heard Eames comment, after having entered to dream to speak with Arthur, how odd it was to hear him with an American accent, which he’d adopted as part of his backstory when he’d met Dom.

It was Eames who approached them now.

“Listen love, I know it’s been a trying day, but Arthur’s waking up.”

“What?” Arthur had been under with Dom. If he was waking up on his own, that meant he’d either been killed or the dream was collapsing.

She left Mal behind, following Eames back to where Arthur lay. Yusuf hovered nearby, frowning at the monitors hooked up to both Arthur and Dom. Something was happening.

Arthur moved first, shaking off the dream and blinking up blearily. Eames was by his side in an instant, removing the line and sitting him up, rubbing circles on his back. Ari hadn’t expected secret agents to be anything like they were, but it had soothed her to see their affection. It made them seem more human and she was able to believe that they cared enough to help Dom instead of just helping themselves.

“The dream collapsed,” Arthur’s voice rasped. “I don’t know why.”

Then Dom shifted.

Ariadne tried not to hope. Dom had moved before, but only involuntary movements in sleep that didn’t mean anything. It was hard to remember that, however, when she’d imagined his waking up in so many ways. Ari twisted the ring on her finger, thinking of their plans to get married in the spring. Dom had lived lifetimes in his dreams now. He might be a completely different person if he woke up. Would he still want her?

Dom made a low grumbling sound and opened his eyes. He blinked, rubbing at his face, and took in the room. 

“I’m awake?” he asked, staring at Ariadne. Frowning, then startling himself upright. “Mal.”

Ariadne’s heart contracted painfully in her chest. 

“Is Mal here?” Dom spied Mal and Miles stood in the doorway, watching. “You’re alive.”

“I’m sorry,” she gasped. Mal turned and fled, leaving Dom looking longingly after her. 

“Mal! Where are you going. No! I need-” Dom flailed against Eames and Yusuf, calling out for his wife. For Mal. 

Unable to stay in the room any longer, Ariadne fled as well, finding Mal leaning into the wall in the next room. 

What was she supposed to say?

“It’s not your fa-” Mal turned, eyes full of tears, and hushed her.

“Oh, ma puce, je suis tellement désolée.” Dom’s voice continued to ring out as they fell into a hug, Mal and Ari trembing together, the stress and emotion of the past few weeks finally breaking over them.

“Mal? I love you, Mal! Please...”

But love wasn’t enough, was it? Because her husband had gone to sleep and a nightmare had taken his place.

“Mal!”


	2. Alternate Ending

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is an optional alternate ending to an alternate ending because I hate writing sad endings and it's Inception, so I'm allowed to have layers, okay?

“I’m awake?” he asked, staring at Ariadne. Frowning, then startling himself upright. “Mal.”

Ariadne’s heart contracted painfully in her chest. 

“She wasn’t - You’re- I...” 

Unsure, Ariadne went to his side, surprised when he grabbed for her desperately.

“Ari, I’m awake? This is real?” Dom pulled her to sit, hands running up and down her arm, one of them fumbling down to find her ring. “You’re real.”

“Yes,” she sobbed.

“This is real.” Dom repeated the words over and over into her hair, holding her close. “God, Ari. How long?

She couldn’t find the words to answer, relief and happiness choking them down. Dom was awake and he remembered. He _remembered_.

“I love you,” she finally managed.

Dom tightened his grip, “I love you too.”


End file.
